This invention relates to navigation systems, and more particularly, to navigation systems using an improved method of finding points of interest.
Navigation systems generally provide a recommended route from a starting point to a desired destination. Typically, one or both of the starting points and the desired destination are selected from a large database of roads and particular locations or points of interest that are stored in a mass media storage. When the user desires directions to a particular location, the user may conduct a search for the desired destination from the database and then select the destination from a hit list to generate the map thereto. The points of interest have typically been organized in the database by categories, such as restaurants and hotels. Most navigation systems have been limited in that the user was only able to search a particular category at a time. That is, the user would have to preselect the category prior to searching for the point of interest. Frequently, a particular destination may be stored in a category other than the category anticipated by the user. As a result, after the user conducted a search in the category, the desired destination would not be found.
An improved method of searching for points of interest has been developed in which the user is able to search across categories enabling the user to find the particular point of interest regardless of how the point of interest is classified in the database. While the ability to search across categories for a point of interest is an improvement over the prior art, several problems remain in searching for a point of interest. For example, the name entered by the user may not be the first name used for the point of interest in the database and, therefore, the point of interest will not be found by the user. Another problem is that a name search across categories will yield a greater number of results or hits. As a result, it is difficult for the user to find the potentially more relative points of interest from the generated list, which is often the points of interest closest to the vehicle location. Therefore, what is needed is an improved navigation system which enables the user to search for points of interest across categories while enabling the user to search within the name of the points of interest and relate the point of interest to the vehicle location.
The present invention provides a navigation system that enables a user to search for points of interest across categories. The user may enter a character string of a desired destination into the navigation system using a user input device. The navigation system searches for points of interest in the database having the character string. The character string may be from the first portion of the name of the point of interest or somewhere in the middle of the name of the point of interest. In this manner, the user is able to locate a point of interest from the database while having a partially incorrect name.
The navigation system may also relate the points of interest to the location of the vehicle. The navigation system senses the vehicle travel information such as vehicle position or vehicle direction. The points of interest are organized relative to the vehicle information. A hit list is generated and displayed in a manner that relates to vehicle location. For example, the closest points of interest to the vehicle location may be organized at the top of the hit list. Alternatively, the points of interest may be organized relative to the direction of the vehicle travel. That is, the points of interest closest to the vehicle and in the direction of the vehicle travel would be displayed at the top of the hit list.
Accordingly, the present invention searches a larger amount of the database to ensure that the user is able to locate the desired destination. The present invention also ensures that the information is organized in a manner such that the potentially most relative information is easily accessible to a user.